Gaming terminals, such as slot machines, video poker machines, and the like, have been a cornerstone of the gaming industry for several years. Generally, the popularity of such terminals with players is dependent on the likelihood (or perceived likelihood) of winning money at the terminal and the intrinsic entertainment value of the terminal relative to other available gaming options. Where the available gaming options include a number of competing terminals and the expectation of winning at each terminal is roughly the same (or believed to be the same), players are most likely to be attracted to the most entertaining and exciting of the terminals.
Consequently, shrewd operators strive to employ the most entertaining and exciting terminals available because such terminals attract frequent play and, hence, increase profitability to the operator. In the competitive gaming terminal industry, there is a continuing need for gaming terminal manufacturers to produce new types of games, or enhancements to existing games, which will attract frequent play by increasing the entertainment value and excitement associated with the game.
One concept that has been successfully employed to enhance the entertainment value of a game is that of a “secondary” or “bonus” game which may be played in conjunction with a “basic” game. The bonus game may comprise any type of game, either similar to or completely different from the basic game, and is entered upon the occurrence of a selected event or outcome of the basic game. Such a bonus game produces a significantly higher level of player excitement than the basic game because it provides a greater expectation of winning than the basic game.
Another concept that has been employed is the use of a progressive jackpot. In the gaming industry, a “progressive” involves collecting coin-in data from participating gaming terminal(s) (e.g., slot machines), contributing a percentage of that coin-in data to a jackpot amount, and awarding that jackpot amount to a player upon the occurrence of a certain jackpot-won event. The percentage of the coin-in is determined prior to any result being achieved and is independent of any result. A jackpot-won event typically occurs when a “progressive winning position” is achieved at a participating gaming terminal. If the gaming terminal is a slot machine, a progressive winning position may, for example, correspond to alignment of progressive jackpot reel symbols along a certain payline. The initial progressive jackpot is a predetermined minimum amount. That jackpot amount, however, progressively increases as players continue to play the gaming terminal(s) without winning the jackpot. Further, when several gaming terminals are linked together such that several players at several gaming terminals compete for the same jackpot, the jackpot progressively increases at a much faster rate, which leads to further player excitement.
In many existing video card games, such as poker or blackjack, the player has to pay for every hand. The outcome of the card game is the only outcome, since the games often do not have bonus and/or progressive games. This diminishes player excitement. Once the player has won or lost the hand, there is no further payoff or reason for the player to continue playing the game. Thus, there is a need for a game providing multiple hands and/or a bonus award for achieving a particular outcome.